Despite being a relatively new addition to the world of panel sizes, 19in wide-aspect LCDs are already coming down in cost. The 940BW is priced on a par with some 17-inch panels on the market, yet Samsung hasn’t skimped on the design, quality or features. Running at 1440 x 900 pixels, the resolution is technically lower than these panels, but the widescreen shape and larger screen area offer more flexibility for running multiple applications or watching video.

Our intensive technical and real-world testing revealed no areas of concern either. Good contrast resulted in plenty of detail in both shadows and brightly lit areas of photos and films. Colours appear rich and vibrant, and we saw no banding on colour ramps and greyscales, indicating that colour handling is spot-on. There was no evidence of motion lag when gaming or watching DVDs either.

A minor criticism is that the backlight is a touch stronger across the bottom of the screen than elsewhere, but it’s only occasionally noticeable. Our only other quibble is the narrow vertical viewing angles; colours distort at around 45 degrees from perpendicular.

Samsung includes its MagicColor chip in the panel, accessed via the screen menu. This processes the image to give the impression of a wider contrast, but it does have a downside: colour handling goes out of the window, with nasty steps in colour ramps instead of the smooth graduations we saw previously. It does make whites appear slightly more pure, though; welcome when colour accuracy isn’t an issue.

The unit itself also offers some good design touches, with sturdy construction and an attractive finish: we particularly like the slim silver bezel, cable tidy and integrated power supply. The stand has 80mm of vertical travel, but no pivot into portrait mode. A D-SUB input is joined by a HDCP-compliant DVI-D connection, which may be useful for watching HD content in the future.
Flexible enough for practically any use, the combination of excellent image quality, very practical size and price make the SyncMaster 940BW an absolute bargain.